Weekly Sermons

Trinity 4: July 9th 2017 Zechariah 9.9-12 Romans 7.15-25a Matthew 11.16-19, 25-30 I’m sure we can all identify with the knots St Paul is apparently tying himself up in in his letter to the Romans: for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is […]

Acts 2.14a, 22-32 1 Peter 1.3-9 John 20.19-31 The readings at this time of the year, in Easter-tide, must count as some of the most uplifting of all. And one reason for this is their freshness: however many times we may hear them, they continue to catch us […]

Isiah 52.13-53.12 Hebrews 4.14-16, 5.7-9 PASSION according to St John Wood is a natural substance; at one time, most of the earth was populated by trees. They are vital to the well-being of the planet, a life-giving part of the eco-system, as we have learnt at our cost over the last […]

Exodus 12.1-4, 11-14 1 Corinthians 11.23-26 John 13.1-17, 31-35 When Christ assembles with his disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, they are following God’s commandments given all those years ago to Moses on the night of the liberation of God’s people, the children of Israel, from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised […]

Vigil Readings Romans 6.3-11 Well, what a week we’ve had! Was it only a few days ago that we assembled in the our two Church Halls with our palm branches ready to welcome Christ into Jerusalem, entering church with shouts of Hosanna! – and then hearing how quickly those joyful shouts turned to […]

Acts 10.34-43 Colossians 3.1-4 John 20.1-17 Many years ago, I was at a Confirmation service at Easter-tide with the then Bishop of reading, Stephen Cottrell (now Bishop of Chelmsford) and he asked us all the question: what were Jesus’ first words after he had risen from the dead? Thankfully, this was a rhetorical question, but […]

Genesis 12.1-4a Romans 4.1-5, 13-17 John 3.1-17 The Bible is punctuated with moments where people take a leap of faith; where there are clear signs of ‘thinking outside the box’. Sometimes these people are anonymous, sometimes they are named, as in today’s gospel when we have the […]

Exodus 24.12-end 2 Peter 1.16-2 Matthew 17.1-9 The story of the Transfiguration is a familiar one; it tells of the revelation of Christ’s glory at the end of the age and fittingly it is on a mountain, echoing the encounters with God of both Moses and Elijah […]

3 before Lent: February 12th 2017 Ecclesiasticus 1 1 Corinthians 3.1-9 Matthew 5.21-37 In our reading today, Paul is challenging his straying young Church in Corinth with a few of the basics: For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, he asks them, are you not of the flesh, and […]